


It Could Have Been Worse

by Eqquator



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Field Trip, Flash Thompson is a jerk, I'm Bad At Tagging, Intern Peter Parker, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Oneshot, Parker Luck, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, SI, Stark Industries, Tags Are Hard, Tony Is Not Helping, Tony Stark Has A Heart, but he's kinda tony's son too, field day fics are so unoriginal but such an exploitable format, flash please kindly fuck off, i have no idea whats going on anymore, ok back to the fic, peter does the bad idea, peter has a bad day, peter has a bad idea, peter parker is an intern, tony never sold the tower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 16:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15392868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eqquator/pseuds/Eqquator
Summary: “...and I know you’re all dying to know where we’re going on Friday! Well, I think you’ll be excited to know that we’re actually going to Stark Industries!”The class’s reaction was instant and dramatic. Several people gasped, someone dropped their pencil, and Peter was surprised Flash’s neck didn’t snap the way he spun around so fast to stare at the boy.Peter’s own reaction was less excitement and more mild terror.Peter's class takes a trip to Stark Industries.





	It Could Have Been Worse

**Author's Note:**

> Oh! You made it this far! I'm honored! 
> 
> The stark industries field trip format is so exploitable so here were are, because I really love seeing Flash being proven wrong. I did attempt to make it more realistic, but as I doubt Peter & Tony would ever actually let this happen, let's not talk about how it probably wouldn't work.
> 
> I have no idea what the put here, so I recommend just reading the fic.

It had been five months since the Toomes incident. Mr. Stark -now Tony- had begun to pay more attention to Peter, sort of taking him under his wing. He invited him to the tower occasionally, something that quickly became regular. Peter very soon started to meet with Tony in his personal lab, where they’d work on various projects or even where Peter would hang out and just do his homework. He also occasionally met the Avengers, or what was left of them, and  Pepper several times. Upon reflection, she was a lot less scary when you knew that she liked to do people’s hair and loved the Hobbit.

There had also been that one time that Peter had come home from school to find May and Pepper having tea together and discussing the stupid things male superheroes did.

 

Tony had ended up not selling the tower after all, instead making it the center for Stark Industries and also a base for the Avengers in New York, relocating the Avengers down to the new property.

 

That was how Peter had come to be sitting in last period Physics while Mr. Kearnes babbled on about things he already knew, half asleep and dreaming about the surprise physics field trip they’d be going on in three days -they’d hadn’t shut up about it for the past week and a half- some secret ‘super-cool’ location, or, knowing the school, somewhere not even resembling ‘cool’.

 

Peter’s head shot up when he heard the teacher mention aforementioned field trip amongst the spiel. 

 

“...and I know you’re all dying to know where we’re going on Friday! Well, I think you’ll be excited to know that we’re actually going to Stark Industries!” 

 

The class’s reaction was instant and dramatic. Several people gasped, someone dropped their pencil, and Peter was surprised Flash’s neck didn’t snap the way he spun around so fast to stare at the boy. Several people were looking at him, actually. They were probably thinking about the Stark Industries internship, whether or not they actually believed him. Only a few people did, he was pretty sure. Stark Industries generally didn’t even take interns.

 

Peter’s own reaction was less excitement and more mild terror. How did he not know this? He went there every Friday, for god’s sake. He’d definitely have to take the day off. Just hide out at home and pretend his classmates weren’t in the building he spent most of his weekends in.

 

The bell decided that was the perfect time to ring, and the excited chattering in the class tripled in volume as Mr. Kearnes ushered the students out into the corridor. As Peter made his way out, with Ned beside him, he felt a rough hand on his shoulder. Flash appeared beside him as though summoned out of the void, a jeering look on his face. “We’re going to Stark Industries! You’ll be able to show us your internship- oh, wait.” He snorted at his own joke, then shouldered past Peter, who had to pretend he didn’t have super strength and couldn’t throw Flash ten feet.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Peter did when he got home was call Pepper. Actually, the first thing he did was beg Aunt May to let him take the day off, the answer to which was a resounding  _ no _ on the grounds that a) it looked suspicious and b) he had decathlon practice after school that day.

 

The second thing he did was call Pepper and hope he wasn't interrupting something important. 

 

“I just learned I'm going on a field trip to Stark Industries in three days,” he said, skipping any greetings.

 

Pepper was silent for a moment from the other end of the phone. “I heard something about a trip here on Thursday, but I didn’t think much of it,” She said, probably checking the tower schedule as they spoke. “One of the directors normally organizes this sort of thing.”

 

“Aunt May isn't letting me take the day off, but I can't let the class know that I hang out in the floors above 80 with Tony Stark. I don't want to spend the rest of my highschool days answering questions about my level nine security pass, why F.R.I.D.A.Y knows me, why-”

 

“Tell you what, I’ll tell the staff that you’re on a trip and not to bother you, I’ll set your security card to level two for the day, and I’ll tell F.R.I.D.A.Y to act like you’re an intern.” Said Pepper, cutting him off.

 

Peter inhaled anxiously. “I guess, but what about Tony? There’s no way he’s not going to do something.”

 

Pepper chuckled from the other end of the line. “I’ll tell him vaguely that we have a school coming over on Thursday, and then fill up his schedule. With a bit of luck, he’ll be in meetings all day.”

 

Peter nodded, even though Pepper couldn't see him. “Ok. I just don’t want everyone to know, well, you know.” 

 

“I know, Pete. I gotta go, but I'll see what I can do.” Pepper hung up a moment later, and Peter put his phone away, feeling at least partially successful.

 

* * *

 

The day of the field trip approached far too fast for Peter’s liking. All too soon they were getting on the bus, heading towards Peter’s possible doom. Pepper had said that she would message him immediately if anything went South. He was checking his phone for what seemed like the hundredth time when a voice from behind him barked, “Parker! Parker, are you looking forward to me busting your internship at Stark Industries?” 

 

Peter turned to see Flash leaning over the seat behind it, grinning. “I don’t even know why you keep it up, Penis,” He pointed out. “If you’re that desperate for attention. You know Stark Industries doesn’t even take interns that haven’t graduated, right? And apparently they’re in, like, single digits.” Peter wanted to point out that he did in fact know that because he spent most weekends there, but he kept his mouth shut. “I’m gonna apply when I graduate,” Flash added, “and when I get in you're gonna eat my shit.” With his great speech concluded, he proceeded to reach down and shove Peter before sitting back.

 

“I don’t know how you don’t just throw him across the room,” Ned whispered, somewhat incredulously. “I mean, you could probably send him flying ten feet. And then steal his jacket.” The boy looked enviously at Flash’s electric blue and probably expensive puffer jacket. “The self control you have…” He laughed, and so did his friend.

 

“I was a nerd before,” Peter pointed out. “I still am now. I can’t suddenly get super strength, you know? I can’t let them know.”

 

“They might well know after today,” Ned replied, as Peter checked his phone again. 

 

* * *

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful, but Peter felt his stomach overturn as he walked out of the bus and looked up at Stark Tower. The other students seemed somewhat awestruck, despite seeing the tower at a distance every day. Maybe now they had just realized how  _ tall _ it was. Maybe they were also thinking about the fact that somewhere in the tower was arguably the most powerful man in the world. Who was also, coincidentally, Peter’s mentor. Not the kind of thing he would have thought possible, a year ago.

 

They’d only waited a couple of minutes before a woman appeared, someone Peter recognized. Lara was one of the younger staff, someone whom Peter had met before but never really talked to. As she approached, the tour guide’s eyes found him and she gave him a knowing smile, and in that moment he thanked the gods for Pepper. 

 

Buzzing with excitement, the class clustered around her, and she cleared her throat. “Hi, I’m Lara, and I’m going to be your tour guide. You all look so excited to be here today, and let me assure you, it’s an amazing place. Some of the things Tony Stark makes are just unbelievable! Now, the tower has 93 floors, and the highest one we’ll go to will probably be floor 18. Now, the rules here are…” As she spoke, Peter found his mind drifting. He’d been on floor 93. He’d probably seen every single thing they were going to look at on this tour, and was just hoping to god that nobody embarrassed him. 

 

He started listening again as Lara began to list where they were going within the tower. A few floors showcasing old inventions, then they were seeing some of the lower labs, then lunch, then a Q & A with some of the scientists, which Peter was most nervous about.

 

Lara, having finished her spiel, held up thirty or so security badges and began to hand them out to the students and Mr. Kearnes.  -he had his own one, which he didn’t actually need as F.R.I.D.A.Y had been programmed to recognize him automatically ever since he had started hanging out there but, you know, appearances- as he doubted she’d have one for him. He pulled his personal one out as Lara passed, and she simply nodded at him and continued. 

 

Suddenly, a voice behind him said, “You made a fake badge, Penis? You’re actually trying, wow.” The badge in itself was navy, different to the white guest badges, which had words on them such as ‘guest’ and ‘level one’. His, on the other hand, was dark blue and had nothing other than his name on it. 

 

Peter had to force his superhuman reflexes not to react as Flash’s hand grabbed the badge. “This is trash,” the other kid declared, inspecting it. “At least make it look like our badges!” He added, unaware that most other badges in the tower only listed a name, and theirs only said ‘guest’ because they were, you know, guests. 

 

Peter was relieved when Lara called them over and began to tell then about F.R.I.D.A.Y, the AI who would scan their passes as they walked through the entranceway. Flash looked at Peter like he couldn’t wait to see how Peter would get through with his supposedly fake pass, and Peter just prayed that F.R.I.D.A.Y treated him like an intern as the class lined up.

 

“Lara Beckham,” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice read out, startling everyone in the line. “level three security.” Grinning at the students’ surprise, Lara walked through and gestured to them to do the same.

 

“Charlie Weiderman, level one security. Cindy Moon, level one security. Alexis Black…” The A.I’s voice reverberated around them, and while most students were surprised or excited by the disembodied voice, Peter just found it normal. This wasn't unusual. It was just F.R.I.D.A.Y. 

 

Then he was at the front of the line far too soon for his liking, stomach churning with sudden nerves. Hesitantly, the boy swiped his card.

 

“Peter Parker, level three security.” 

 

Peter stepped through, only to realize the class had gone  _ completely silent _ . He suspected not many of them had actually believed that the internship was real. Ned had this I-told-you-so grin on his face, and MJ didn’t look particularly surprised, but everyone else seemed shocked. Peter wondered if Flash’s jaw would ever get up off of the ground. 

 

“Alright,” Began Lara, clapping her hands, “who’s excited to begin the tour?”

 

The class made their way to floor nine, which was an entire floor showcase of Tony Stark’s inventions. “Woah, you actually have an internship?” A voice asked next to him as the class made their way to the elevators, and Peter turned to see Cindy Moon. “That’s so cool,” she gushed, “how did you get it?”

 

“I- uh, well, I applied for it?” He improvised, unsure what to say. He was very much aware that several of his classmates were staring at him. “One of the people here saw my science fair project or something and put in a good word for me,” He added, in a somewhat pathetic attempt to make it sound more believable.

 

Cindy’s brow furrowed. “But I thought you have to have graduated just to apply?” She asked, confused.

 

“Uh, yeah, they made an exception.” Peter stuttered. “Because of the person working here that saw my Science Fair project. And put in a good word for me.” Most of the class was watching him now, and words could not explain how relieved he was when Lara called them over and herded them into the elevators towards the showcase.

 

The class was allowed to fan out over the entire floor, and look at whatever they wanted for the next 45 minutes, as long as they didn’t touch or break anything, although most of it was in glass cases anyway. Peter, having seen most of it, was showing Ned some of the more exciting things -old Iron Man suits, arc reactor technology- when only his super senses alerted him to voice hissing in his ear.

 

“How the fuck did you do it, Penis?” Flash hissed, grabbing Peter and pulling him away from Ned. “How?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peter said, acutely aware of the fact that he could easily throw Flash six feet and be done with it and was trying to pretend he did not have said super strength.

 

“I’m talking about the security level, idiot,” Flash growled. “How did you do it? Did you hack the AI? Pay someone? Or have you actually been here? How did you  _ do _ it?”

 

Peter stared at him. “I have an internship, is that really so hard for you to believe?” He asked.

 

“Yes!” Flash said, “You have to be graduated just to apply. There are people with finished degrees that don’t get in. The amount of interns here is in the single digits. Why would they hire you? Even if someone had come to see your science fair or whatever, it would have to have been, like, Tony Stark! Which is not possible,” He pointed out, and Peter bit his lip nervously. “So, how did you fake it?”

 

Peter sputtered, but then Ned was there, with a hand on his friend’s arm, gently pulling him away. “C’mon, Peter, he’s just jealous,” Ned pointed out, which was probably true. 

 

Flash’s calling continued. “Did you pay someone? The tour guide? How? You don’t even have any money! Hell, you don’t even have parents!” Peter did his best of ignore him, even as the comments grated against his nerves.

 

Maybe, if he kept quiet, Flash would even leave him alone.

 

No, the universe had decided. That was not what was going to happen. 

 

A few minutes later, Peter’s phone vibrated with a message from Pepper. He opened it at inhuman speed, nervous it was something about Tony. It was not.

 

**PP**

Who was that kid?

**Peter P**

?

**PP**

That one with the blue puffer jacket

**Peter P**

Oh

He’s just a guy from my class

Why and how?

**PP**

One of the staff messaged me about it. Is he bullying you or something?

**Peter P**

No

No he’s just teasing

It’s nothing

You don’t have to do anything

**PP**

Alright, just checking

 

Peter sighed, putting away his phone. Of course one of the staff would see it and message Pepper. Maybe one of the higher-ups had seen it, even though they shouldn’t even be this low in the tower. Parker Luck™ was the only explanation he could think of. 

 

Somewhere on the other side of the floor, Lara was calling all of the students over, saying something about how now they were going to see the ‘fun stuff’ now. As far as Peter was concerned, it was more along the lines of ‘stuff that can and therefore will go wrong for him’. 

 

“Was that Pepper Potts?” Ned whispered as they made their way towards the tour guide. Peter nodded, and Ned grinned. “It’s just so cool that- you know,” He said, not daring to mention  _ the secret _ in a public place.

 

Peter grinned back at him as Lara explained that they were going to floor 11, which he knew was the lowest and most boring of the labs, though as Lara talked about how  _ exciting _ and  _ interesting _ it was he just nodded along. The most fascinating thing he’d seen them do was debug an old Starkphone model.

 

All of the actual equipment and proper sciency stuff on floor 11 was separated from the viewing area by a clear wall. Students pressed themselves excitedly against the glass, only to frown and pull back when they realized that the scientists were only working on old phones and computers.

 

“I suppose you’ve seen all this, right, Peter?” Said a voice behind the boy, who turned to see another classmate - James Landford, looking at him expectantly.

 

“Uh, yeah, yeah I’ve seen all of this.” Peter said, then hesitated. “I see much cooler labs sometimes, where they work on stuff that’s new.”  _ I’ve literally worked on Iron Man armour _ , Peter thought.  _ This floor is the most boring thing ever. _

 

“Cool! What’s the highest floor you’ve been to?” Asked James, though he had an odd look in his eye, as though he was saying  _ why do you get to work here? Why you? _

For a second Peter wanted to say 93, but there was no universe that ended well. “46,” He ended up deciding, thinking that was low enough that nobody would ask questions and high enough that it looked like he actually worked there.

 

“Really? What’s on it?” James asked, and then Peter had to actually remember what was on floor 46.

 

“It’s just a bunch of studies for the scientists,” he said. “Not labs or anything- just where they have notes and do research and things.” 

 

James frowned. “Huh.” Without another word, he went back to his friends and began a muttered conversation. Peter knew once again that several people had been watching him. 

 

Peter stood quietly at the back of the crowd with Ned as Lara explained aspects of the lab to the somewhat uninterested group of students. Today could be… alright. Lunch would be fine, and then they had a Q & A, but the scientists had been told to mostly ignore Peter, so there was hope, right?

 

They went through the labs on floors 11, 15 and 16, none of which contained anything particularly fascinating. Lara managed to sound excited the entire time, though how was far beyond Peter. The boy was more preoccupied with being nervous for the Q & A and wondering why he was there. Several other students came up to him, asking him questions, and most of the class held muttered conversations about him at some point or another when they thought he couldn’t hear. All the attention made him feel awkward, and he knew there’d likely be a lot more of it in the future, now that people knew he was the youngest intern of a multi-million dollar company. Ned was there, though, and MJ also seemed to hang nearby, reading or looking at the labs with vague distaste.

 

Lunch was a matter of releasing the students onto floor 14 -which contained several cafés and not much else-  for 45 minutes and hoping they didn’t cause too many casualties. and it was as Peter ate a sandwich at a table in the corner with Ned, knowing people were looking at him and talking about him that everything went wrong.

 

“Everything went wrong” came in the form of Peter realizing that he had forgotten the set of practice questions he had been meant to bring to Decathlon practice. Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but he distinctly remembered MJ looking at him last week and saying that if he messed up  _ one _ more time she would boot him off the team. He didn’t know how much forgetting the set of important practice questions they were using that practice counted as messing up but he was not willing to take his chances. 

 

Torturously, they were probably on the counter of one of Tony's labs. On the top floor of the tower. Which was only 79 floors away. In Peter’s panicked, worried mind, a (bad) idea began to form. They still had 35 minutes of lunch, right? The elevators could get all the way up and down the tower in five seconds flat, and it would take no time for him to run in, grab the paper, stuff it into his bag, and be back down. Five minutes at most. That’s what it would take. Ned would cover for him as well. He’d just go to some secluded part of the floor, take an elevator. Hell, he didn’t even need his card- F.R.I.D.A.Y automatically recognized him.

 

Peter was snapped back to reality by Ned’s elbow digging into his ribs. “What happened?” His friend asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

 

Peter blinked at him. “I- I just realized I forgot the questions sheet for Decathlon this afternoon,” He whispered, glancing around to make sure nobody was listening. “I gotta go and get it.” 

 

Ned frowned. “Dude, that’s  _ not  _ gonna end well.” He said in the voice of someone who spoke from experience. “Just go to practice and say you forgot it.”

 

“Have you seen the look in MJ’s eyes when I mess up? She’ll kick me off the team. Besides, it’s only 79 floors above us. It would take five minutes, tops.” Peter whispered, feeling like panicking. He knew this was, in reality, only a small thing and probably wouldn’t impact him, but it was as though all of the frayed nerves from the day so far were overflowing. “You can cover for me.”

 

Ned gave him a  _ look _ , but eventually nodded. “If you say so. What if you run into Mr. Stark or something though?” 

 

“Pepper said he has meetings all day,” Peter explained. “And Pepper’s also in a meeting until, like, two I think. It’ll be fine,” He added, trying to convince himself more than anything else.

 

“God, Peter, you gotta make it quick.” Ned said. “I’ll tell people you’re… going to the toilet or something. What if people see you go into the elevator or something?”

 

“Dude, there are loads of different elevators. I’ll find one without anybody nearby.” Peter replied, looking around. He ate the last of his sandwich and checked his watch. 32 minutes. Loads of time and then some. Standing up, he glanced around. “I’ll be right back- you won’t even notice.”

 

Peter made his way through the cafeteria nervously, feeling eyes on him. He knew there were elevators at the end of the cafeteria, but the floor also had a hallway that led to reception rooms, among other things, and there were elevators at the end of those. As far as Peter could see, most people were in the cafeteria, and the hallway -thank god- was pretty quiet. 

 

Hoping he didn’t look to suspicious, Peter made his was down the hallway and towards the elevators. They were Stark-engineered, which meant they could traverse 93 floors in five seconds flat. The boy pressed the elevator button -something that would normally require a card, but since Peter lived there F.R.I.D.A.Y already automatically granted him top level access, no matter what his card said- and held his breath nervously as the elevator began to rise.

 

The elevator could get from the top to the bottom of the tower in approximately five seconds, and before Peter knew it, the doors to floor 93 were opening. As they did so, Peter’s phone buzzed with a text as he exited the elevator, which closed automatically behind him as he stepped out. He pulled his phone out see a chilling, dreaded message.

 

**PP**

I’ve just received word that Tony has gotten out of his meeting, be careful

 

Peter’s blood froze in his veins at the idea of Tony wandering about the tower unsupervised, but he pocketed the phone and looked up to see Tony -speak of the devil- emerge from a room and into the hallway. He skidded to a stop, mentally backtracking. “Uh, Tony, hi, uh-”

 

The billionaire looked up, seeming as surprised as Peter did. “Peter! Aren’t you meant to be on your school trip?” He asked, and then his expression darkened. “You know, the one you didn’t tell me about?” 

 

Peter paused collecting himself. “Yeah, it’s lunch time, and I realized I forgot the questions for decathlon practice, so I thought I’d just come up here quickly and get them-” He said quickly, stumbling over his words and then eventually paused for breath.

 

“Woah, kid, calm down.” Tony said, having collected himself. “Does anyone know you’re up here?” 

 

Peter hesitated. “Yeah.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Ned.”

 

A resigned sigh escaped Tony. “Alright, kid. Get your thing and get back to your class. What floor will you guys be on this afternoon?”

 

Peter looked up sharply. “I’m not gonna tell you that,” He said, eliciting a chuckle from the man.

 

“C’mon! I have nothing to do all afternoon!”

 

“Don’t you have meetings all afternoon?” Replied Peter, falling into familiar banter as he headed towards the lab.

 

“Not anymore,” Corrected Tony. “They didn’t actually need me. Pepper just signed me up for them for  _ some _ reason.” He added, with a pointed look at Peter, who gave an innocent shrug. 

 

Yeah, well, the answer’s still no.” Peter stated, knowing that that wouldn’t stop Tony at all. He grabbed the paper, spun on his heel and headed back towards the elevator.

 

“I won’t tell them anything, don’t worry. Just that you’re an intern here.” Tony called behind him. Peter didn’t respond, and footsteps echoed as Tony went towards wherever he had been going.

 

The elevator ride in itself was fine; it was only when Peter stepped out of the elevator that things went wrong. 

 

The thing going wrong in question was Flash, who had, unfortunately been nearby in the hallway and was there when Peter stepped out of the elevator. 

 

Flash's head whipped around and his eyes bugged though he wasn't believing what he was seeing. After a moment he stepped towards Peter. “What are you doing? What were you doing? How were you doing that? What- wh-” Flash seemed to lose the ability of speech and simply stared at the horrified boy and the now closed elevator behind him.

 

“I- uh- just internship stuff, you know,” Stuttered Peter, hoping Flash didn't notice the suddenly-too-big-and-bright piece of paper he was holding. 

 

“Bullshit,” Flash replied, and Peter had to be amazed. He still didn't believe Peter didn't have the internship, even though he'd just stepped out of an elevator. “Did you hack the system? Bribe someone? Where did you go,anyway?”

 

“Alright, I gotta go.” Mumbled Peter, on the verge of panic, now having officially lost patience with Flash. He pushed past the boy, using not quite enough strength to be inhuman. Flash was too surprised to summon much resistance, anyway. 

 

The walk to Ned seemed to take far too long of Peter trying and failing to be positive, and ended with him just telling himself it could have been worse.

 

“How'd it go?” Asked Ned worriedly. Peter held up the piece of paper and proceeded to recount the events in a hushed voice. 

 

Flash and his friends, on the other hand, were staring at Peter across the cafeteria.

 

Peter was glad when lunch was over until he realized it was out of the frying pan, into the fire. Lara called them all over and explained they would be going to floor 23 for the Q & A with the scientists, and the entire class perked when she added that she'd just been told they'd also be having a special guest there as well. Yeah, Peter had a feeling he knew who that was. It seemed like no time at all until the class was assembled in a room on the 23rd floor and the workers were coming in. 

 

There were four of them, only three of them being people Peter recognized. Maybe the last guy was new or something. The girl was Allison, who Peter'd worked with a couple of times, the first guy was Marcus, who he'd chatted with a couple of times, and the second guy was Liam, who he'd only seen around.

 

A moment after they walked in, Tony followed behind them.

 

The class went _utterly_ _silent_ , like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Even Mr Kearnes seemed to have stopped functioning.

 

Marcus made eye contact with Peter, as if to say  _ good luck _ .

 

Peter wanted to crawl into a hole and spontaneously combust.

 

Tony spotted Peter at the back of the crowd and the billionaire's whole face seemed to light up. A couple of students followed his gaze and frowned in confusion.

 

Lara recovered first. More surprised that Tony had actually turned up than anything else, she clapped her hands together and grinned, and little nervously. “Well, let's get started! We have plently of time, so ask any questions you like!” 

 

Nobody moved a muscle, and the tension in the room grew even thicker. Even Tony seemed to be wondering if this was a bad idea.

 

Finally some brave student raised her hand. “What, uh, what's it like working in Stark Industries?”

 

It was a vague, generic question, but it was a question nonetheless. Marcus and Allison answered it with the relief that someone had finally said  _ something _ . It was different depending on what your position was, but it was all around a great experience, the general spiel.

 

People seemed to relax after that. The questions got more interesting, and though most were directed at Tony, the scientists did get to answer a few. If nothing, they seemed to be grateful to be out of the spotlight.

 

It seemed to be going okay. Until, near the end of the Q & A, Flash -curse him until the end of time- said, “Is it possible for the security system to be hacked?” 

 

“Not as far as I know,” said Tony, immediately suspicious. “Why?” he looked at Flash with an intense dislike, as though he kind of wanted to kick him. Peter wandered if Pepper had told him about Flash's ‘teasing’. 

 

Yeah, she definitely had.

 

“Oh, uh, someone in our class got into the elevator during lunchtime,” Flash replied, much to the alarm of the class, scientists and teacher.

 

“Who was this?” Broke in Mr Kearnes, before Tony could respond.

 

“Peter Parker,” replied Flash victoriously. “He somehow got into the elevator.”

 

Mr Kearnes rounded on Peter.

 

“Peter's allowed in the elevator. He's an intern here, he was just checking up on a project during lunchtime- right, Peter?” Interrupted Tony flippantly.

 

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I, uh, made some adjustments to the, uh, heat regulator.” He was talking out of his ass, but if there was one thing he'd learned from Tony it was  _ when in doubt, make something up. _

 

If the class had been quiet before, now they were dumbstruck. The idea that this billionaire superhero who was arguably the most powerful and influential person on the planet was standing in the room with them, talking to their classmate with a certain fondness didn't compute in their minds.

 

Peter felt a flash of satisfaction at the expression on Flash's face and then immediately felt guilty for it. 

 

Silence reigned for several dozen seconds. Nobody seemed to know how to react. Peter and Tony exchanged nervous glances. The other scientists were quiet- this was hardly the Q & A they had imagined.

 

“So, uh, do you actually know Peter?” One of Flash's friends finally asked Tony, his voice quivering with nervousness and disbelief.

 

“Yes,” Tony answered looking like he was somewhat enjoying the expressions on the childrens’ faces. “He helps me in the lab sometimes.” 

 

At this point Peter was tempted to fling himself into a volcano to get away from the entire class of eyeballs trained on him. He would never be out of the spotlight again now. At least Flash would probably leave him alone.

 

A couple more questions were asked, but they were kind of dumb and distracted. A lot of the class still caught glances at Peter, muttered and whispered among themselves. Eventually Lara looked at the time and announced that it was time to draw the Q & A to a close, said a few goodbyes to Tony and the scientists and promptly herded the class out the door. 

 

The class didn't seem able to do much as Lara escorted them down to ground floor and left them to Mr Kearnes. 

 

“Why didn't you tell us?” Hissed a voice behind Peter as they made their way to the bus. 

 

“I did? You didn't believe me?” He replied, bewildered as he turned to see Flash, who looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry or stand in mild shock.

 

“No, I mean you knowing Tony Stark.”

 

“Would you have believed me?” Peter asked, and Flash didn't respond, instead drawing away to his own friends.

 

Peter turned back to Ned, who, along with MJ, seemed to be the only person who dared to get close to him. Everyone else seemed to stand five feet away from him and stare.he wasn't sure he liked it. With his super hearing, he could also hear most of the whispered conversations and had concluded that almost all of then were about him and Tony.

 

“They don't know the half of it,” joked Ned as the students filed on to the bus, and Peter couldn't help but smile, even if he was still feeling shaken.

 

“Yeah,” he replied. “It was a bad day, though.”

 

Ned shrugged. “It could have been worse.” Peter supposed he was right.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had no idea what to do for an ending, so I honestly just told myself to stop writing and post it.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like it! It was written over the course of a couple of months (I just came back from three weeks of holiday so I had little chance to write it), so it may be a bit choppy in places but I hope it's still readable. This is also my first time using ao3 so if the formatting is a little off it's because I'm still learning to use the website.
> 
> I tried to keep Peter mostly in character, but getting characters right is one of what I find to be the hardest parts of fic writing, so some parts might off.
> 
> I'm babbling now but if you want to leave a comment I'd love that! Comments and kudos and feedback honestly fuel me so feel free to leave a friendly critique!
> 
> Also, how would you all feel about a pirates!avengers au fic?
> 
> Update: 1000 kudos! Thank you so much! I know I don't respond to comments as much as I'd like, but I love each and every one of you, and your comments make me so happy! 
> 
> Also, check out my new one shot, Falling Through Time!


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